Busted
by shimmeryshine
Summary: The story of how Castle and Beckett get totally busted by literally every person they know.
1. Martha

**A/N: **Also known as: How Everyone Finds out Castle and Becket are Banging. This is like a multi-chap that's not really a multi-chap because all of the parts will be pretty independent of each other, but all follow the same ~theme of how C/B get totally busted by pretty much everyone they know because they are really just. that. obvious. Post-Always.

* * *

_1._ _martha_

* * *

It's nearly nine when Beckett finally stirs, squinting her eyes against the bright light slicing through the open blinds of Castle's bedroom. They had both been much, much too busy the night before to even think about closing them, but she's glad for the wakeup call now, certain she could have slept the entire day away in the dark. She takes a moment to take stock of herself before she gets up – flexes her toes against his million thread count sheets, stretches her abdomen so it flattens against the soft surface of his mattress, feels the pleasant twinge between her legs. Oh it's been a _while_ since she felt like this in the morning. She's got bruises in other places too though, she can feel them along her ribcage, tender and sore, but they will heal. They will heal and she'll be here, alive, with him.

Her air dried hair is everywhere as she pushes up on her forearms then, lets it curtain her face, hiding from daylight for just another minute. Of course this is when he wakes up.

He mumbles something she doesn't quite catch into his pillow, but then his open palm is sliding warmly up her spine and she can't help but tip her head back and groan, feeling the soft ends of her curls brush against her naked skin.

"Are you hiding?" he whispers into her shoulder, dropping an open mouthed kiss there, and suddenly her entire body goes from soft and sated to buzzing with electricity.

"No."

She can feel him smile against her skin, an echoing one blooming across her face. She's in _Castle's bed_. Castle's bed. With Castle. _Naked_ with Castle. The well kissed swell of her lip fits between her teeth familiarly as his hand finds the end of her spine, wrapping itself around the top of her neck lightly. _Mmm, so nice._

"Good," he says, letting his teeth scrape her skin gently before dropping his head down to her pillow so he can see her. He's all but grinning.

The hand at her neck moves to the front of her throat, drags across the line of her jaw, thumb swiping against her lower lip. Her tongue flicks out at it, fleeting, but it has the desired effect, and she watches his eyes dilate right in front of her. He's touching her just to _touch_ and she'd really like him to never stop.

He must see it in her eyes, the sudden heat that sweeps through her, because he's pressing his mouth to hers so quickly she can't even draw breath. An _umph_ rumbles out of her throat as she loses herself in him for a moment, only pulling back when he tries to tug her on top of him.

"Wait Castle," she mumbles, pulling the wrist he's grabbed from his grip, but he's got all the leverage in this position, and she ends up half sprawled over him, one leg draped dangerously between the both of his.

"Why am I waiting?" he spells into the skin of her throat with his tongue, sucking hotly until he reaches the little hollow at the base of it. "I think I never want to wait for anything ever again."

She lets him feel the vibration of her laugh at that, _knows_ he's talking about the things they haven't even spoken about yet, but she really needs –

"_Castle_," she pulls him sharply by the back of his head, tries not to smile too hard at the yelp it elicits. (Just like old times, she thinks.)

"Whaaaat," he whines.

She lets her forehead tip against his, an apology for getting rough, brushes his lips lightly until he stops moving. "I need coffee," she breathes into his mouth, letting her lips kiss the corner of his, and then his cheek, and then she's pushing herself up and off of him. He catches her bicep though, stilling her escape yet again. She raises an eyebrow but waits for him.

"But I need _you_," he pouts, and wow, okay, he can really turn it on in the morning with that ruffled hair and those puppy dog eyes. The rumble that sounds softly in her belly is the only thing that stops her from giving into him.

She leans back over his face then, softly dropping a kiss on his lips, a promise for her return. "Let me go put on some coffee and then you can have me."

She feels the full body shudder that goes through him at her words, they've both been waiting _entirely_ too long for this.

"Promise?" he asks, breaking her heart a little bit, but she's kind of excited about proving to him just how much she wants him, how much she's ready for this, for them.

Her fingers trail down his arm as she stands. "Coffee and then I'll prove it to you." She goes for sultry and thinks she mostly succeeds as she lets him watch her pick up his maroon button down off the floor and slide her arms into it, leaving the top three buttons undone, the hem barely falling over the tops of her thighs. "Be right back," she says as she backs out of his door, biting her lip again for him before she finally turns so she doesn't crash into literally everything in his office.

* * *

She's just pulling down two coffee cups from his cabinet when she hears footsteps coming from the direction of his office. She watches with a crooked smile as he shuffles his way across the living room, stopping in the middle to watch her move around his kitchen, waiting for her to pour their coffee and then start to make her way to him. "Here," she says, pushing one of the mugs into his hands, holding eye contact as she takes a heavenly sip out of her own, humming as the rich liquid slides down her throat. He's staring at her mouth, still only holding his mug against his chest.

"I always wondered if you would taste like coffee," he blurts out, completely distracted by her. It's her gaze now that's tripping to his mouth, daring him to find out. He takes her silent invitation, letting their coffee cups clink together between them as his mouth falls over hers, soft at first, and then questing as she opens up for him, hot tongues sliding until she feels him groaning against her.

She's just about to ask him if she does, taste like coffee, when the front door of his loft suddenly flies open out of nowhere, the animated frame of his mother strutting through the vacant doorway. Beckett squeaks as Martha's eyes lock on them, freezing in the entryway, her cell phone pressed silently to one ear.

"Minerva darling, I'm going to have to call you back," she says, a grin upturning her perfectly colored lips as she clicks off her phone and holds it in her fist. "Richard," she smirks, letting her eyes flick over Beckett, who's just taken two steps directly behind Castle, well and truly _hiding_.

How do two consenting adults get busted by someone's _mother_?

She tugs absently on the hem of his shirt along her legs, willing it to be longer, willing it to cover the finger shaped bruises she's pretty sure line the tender insides of her thighs because this situation isn't embarrassing _enough_ without Martha seeing the evidence of what she let her son do to her.

"Mother," Castle drawls, sounding more amused than anything, and she really wishes she could adopt the same casual attitude. She clears her throat when Martha peeks her head around, catching Beckett's eyes finally.

"Kate." Her voice is all sing song _I told you so_ and Beckett really wants to die a little bit.

Instead she commits firmly to small talk and pretending absolutely nothing out of the ordinary is going on. "Hi Martha."

"Enjoying your morning dear?"

Beckett can feel the way Castle's shoulders are tensing, he's trying not to _laugh_ at her, and so she reaches her free hand to the back of his arm and pinches him once, a tight twist of skin before she throws on the biggest half embarrassed grin she can muster and smiles around her coffee cup.

"Well we _were_," Castle says, making her choke around the dark liquid in her mouth.

"_Castle_."

"I'm just saying."

Martha is still looking at them with a smug grin that's turned a bit misty, but then she's shouldering her purse and backing her way up the staircase. "Well, I'll leave you two kids to it," she says, giving Beckett a smile that feels warm and welcoming, making her heart clench a little bit. Castle comes with a _family_ and that's something she needs to be sure not to forget.

Beckett waves a little bit, and then they're alone again, still standing in the middle of the living room, huddled together. She takes a step back from him, from the way she was practically climbing his back, gulping down a scalding sip of her coffee, then she's turning on her heel and walking straight back toward his bedroom to _hide_.

Oh _god_.

He follows after her the second she starts moving, walking with long strides to keep up with her pace.

"Are you freaking out? Don't freak out." She can hear the lilt in his voice, he's trying not to laugh, so she stops abruptly, slaps his shoulder when he runs right into her back.

"We just got busted by your _mom_, Castle."

He shrugs. "She's seen worse."

Is he _serious_ –

"I mean, I don't mean that the way it sounded."

She stares at him, deadpan.

"She'll get used to it?"

Stare.

"You look amazing in my shirt?"

"_Castle_."

He steps farther into her space and she lets him, snaking a hand behind her back to hold him to her. The curve of her chin fits perfectly in the crook of his neck as she lets herself rest there for a moment, puff a breath against his skin. "This is really happening isn't it?" she whispers, letting her fingers trip up his side lightly, touching just to touch.

He pulls back from her face to look at her expression, studies her for a moment until he's okay with what he sees, she imagines, because then he's kissing her again, slow and deep and promising. _Real_.

"I'm – " she starts, stops when his eyes focus in on her lips. "We're not having sex in here with your mother upstairs."

He's distracted enough by her sultry tone that it takes almost a full five seconds for her words to make their way through to his brain. "What?" he pouts. "Why not? You _promised_."

"That was _before_ – "

"Before you totally got busted with no pants on _in my loft_." He's grinning so smugly, her mouth hangs open at him a little bit.

"This…this is not helping your cause Richard Castle."

"Ohh breaking out my whole name, are you going to _punish _me Detective?"

"You wish."

He does wish, she can see it all over his face as he backs her through his bedroom doorway again, shutting the door behind him with his foot and then he's gripping her by the shoulders and turning her, leading her across his room. "What about in the bathroom?" he whispers in her ear, crowding at her back as his impossibly hot mouth closes around her neck again, sucking at her as she tries not to stumble. "If we turn on the shower, no one will be able to hear you."

"Hear _me?" _she tries to say, but it comes out as a groan mostly, betraying how much she wants to let him do whatever he wants to her, wherever he wants to do it, especially because his hot palm is up under her shirt now, sliding across her stomach like her body is his for the taking.

"It's okay, I promise I won't tell."

"Tell what Castle, there's nothing _to_ tell." He plucks her coffee cup from her fingers, setting it on the bathroom counter as he starts unbuttoning his shirt down the middle of her chest, fingers brushing her as much as possible.

"I promise I won't tell anyone that I can make you _scream_."

She takes a step back from him. "Okay, _now_ I'm leaving."

He's laughing as he grabs for her, as she twists out of his reach, playing at running, but then he's got her pressed against the bathroom door, mouth all over her, hands nimble and far more coordinated than she would have ever given him credit for, and she's all at once _naked_, standing there with him. In his bathroom. Panting.

"You're going to pay for that," she breathes, yanking his pants off and reaching into the shower to twist the faucet to hot.

His eyes are huge and sparkling, just for her. Always for her.

"_Promise_?"


	2. Lanie

**A/N: **Thank you for all the super nice feedback here/on twitter/on tumblr. I am scared of multi-chap fics, so you guys have no idea how appreciative I am! haha :')

* * *

_2. lanie_

* * *

"Why are all your clothes still on?" Castle grunts as he tries to slide a hand into the back pocket of Beckett's jeans, only to be met with the obstructive, solid weight of her cell phone against his fingers. He plucks it out, tossing it onto his bedside table, right next to his and then tugs her further onto his lap, leaving his computer half open and utterly forgotten next to them on the bed.

She grins against his mouth at his impatience, everything still so new, so acute, so –

"_Beckett_," he whines against her, sliding a palm up the back of her shirt, making her arch.

Her hands slip into his hair, fingers spreading through the strands there. "Did you miss me or something?" she breathes into his mouth, grinning as he nods against her lips, kissing her soundly.

"I had to do _work_ while you were gone."

She leans back to pull off her shirt, giving him a look. "Castle I was gone for like four hours."

"Too long," he mouths into her skin, lips skirting along her collarbone as she sighs. She's not about to admit it, but she kind of missed him too, was maybe thinking about this the entire time she was away from him.

As he kisses his way down her chest, fiddling with the clasp of her bra, her eyes catch sight of his laptop screen, still lit up and on and _oh_ he was definitely writing while she was gone and it's been so long since Heat Rises came out…She subtly shifts on his lap, giving him more access to her but also moves herself just close enough to reach the computer, letting her fingers push at his laptop screen softly, tilting it back just far enough so she can see what he's been working on. He never lets her peek at his manuscripts, instead mercilessly torturing her with cries of "spoilers!" and elaborate scenarios he would never actually write. He's distracted though, fingers playing at her body instead of his well worn keys and so she lets her hips roll into him as she starts skimming her eyes down the word document still lighting his screen.

It's immediately clear he was in the middle of writing one of his infamous sex scenes between Nikki and Rook and suddenly his frantic state makes a little bit more sense (though he's been like this since that night she showed up on his doorstep, soaking wet and reaching for him). Her eyes devour his prose as he devours her body, a little rough around the edges, but not enough to distract from what he was just imagining them _doing_, them, Nikki and Rook, she can't tell anymore, and as she gets more absorbed with the way Rook's hands are sliding up Nikki's thighs, the way Nikki is opening for him (in her squad car? _Really_ _Castle?_), she forgets where she is, that their author is under her and then –

_snap_

the laptop lid abruptly closes as the trail of saliva down her throat cools rapidly and Castle is looking at her like he's just caught her with her hand in the cookie jar. Oops.

She just stares at him, all wide eyed innocence as he shakes his head at her, clicking his tongue reproachfully. "You know how I feel about you reading that stuff before I'm finished with it," he lets out darkly, making her shiver. She can't tell if he's actually mad or just putting it on for her, so she just kind of pushes her chest out a little bit, making her half undressed state work for her, feeling his hips tense between her legs as he tries not to look down.

"Sorry," she whispers breathily, letting both of her hands cup his cheeks, eyes boring into his as she scoots forward again until they are completely flush.

"I don't think you are."

The quirk of her lips is barely contained as she tries to keep a hold on her control here. Her hips roll tightly against his again, and she's cheating, she knows, but she just can't help herself.

A low groan rumbles up from his chest at the friction she's creating, his fingers pressing into her sides now, almost wrapping around her middle completely.

"Forgive me?" Her teeth tug at his bottom lip and then she sucks it into her mouth, holding eye contact with him as she works him over.

He presses a firm kiss to her lips then, moving along her jaw to her ear as she keeps moving, has her breathless for whatever he's about to ground out against her ear lobe.

"Only if you'll let me touch you in _your_ squad car," he says, pausing to feel her sharp intake of breath at the request, the way she arches her stomach against him as his words slide through her. "For research, of course." Her hips twist hard, because of his tone, his words, because he definitely knows where she just went off to for the last four hours even though she didn't say a word about it and he didn't push her by asking.

She rips him away from her ear with a hand on the back of his head, crushes her mouth to his as she starts sliding his shirt over his head. It's off and gone and then she's sucking her way down the tendons in his neck when his phone starts vibrating against his bedside table, skittering across the wood as a desperate moan rumbles up and out of his throat.

He reaches for it blindly for a moment, she knows he has to answer, in case of an emergency with his kid, but she's not stopping until he pulls her off.

"Yeah?" he says impatiently into the phone, voice sounding like sandpaper as he uses his free hand to hold her head to his neck, encouraging her mouth –

And then he freezes.

"Castle, what – " she starts to say, raising her face to look at his wide eyes and then he's releasing her head and shoving the phone at her, her phone and _oh shit_. He answered _her_ phone, he took her phone out of her pocket and put it on his nightstand with his and then he _answered_ it.

"Who is it?" she mouths, wrapping her fingers around it, loathe to look at the screen.

"It's Lanie, girl you better talk to me _right now_!" comes yelling weakly from the phone in her fist, making her groan and drop her forehead against his naked shoulder. She slides the phone to her ear, feeling Castle rest a palm against her back.

"Hi?" she says, trying not to sound completely _caught_. She's a grown woman, she can be…doing whatever she wants with whoever she wants. Right?

"Katherine Beckett, why is that man answering your phone right now?"

"That man?" Castle scoffs above her, she's so close to his ear he can hear their entire conversation, but then so can Lanie, who immediately squeals on the other side of the line.

"Oh my god you are not helping," she swears at Castle before raising her head and sitting back on his thighs a little bit more.

"Put it on speakerphone so I can hear her ream you out." He looks so giddy she wants to smack him –

"Can you two stop flirting and tell me what is going on!"

"We're not – "

"Girl. It's nine o'clock at night and he is close enough to you to hear our conversation, I sincerely hope you are doing more than just flirting."

Castle snatches the phone from her then, pressing it to his ear as Beckett lunges for it, only succeeding at pressing her chest against his which makes him _leer_ and then he's talking to Lanie like this is the most normal thing in the world.

"Kate's a little busy right now, can she call you back later?"

Beckett can hear the other woman laughing over the line, low and throaty and happy, and she's actually a little bit relieved that this isn't a conversation she's going to have to _broach_ now. Lanie's not going to leave her alone until she spills everything, and she's kind of in dire need of a good girls night anyway.

"Tell your girl she better call me first thing tomorrow."

Beckett's eyebrows go sky high at _your girl_ as he just grins at her, letting his fingers roam up and down her thighs.

"You got it Lanie."

"Have fun! Be safe!" Lanie shouts into the phone before Castle thumbs it off, setting it back down and then leveling the pink cheeked woman on his lap with an amused quirk of his eyebrow.

"Be safe?" Beckett groans, covering her face with her hands until Castle wraps his fingers around her wrists and tugs her closer again.

"She's a doctor, she has to say things like that."

"She's going to tell everyone."

Castle pulls a soft kiss from her lips and then settles his head back against the headboard, watching her. "Would it be a bad thing if she did?"

"No, I just – " Beckett squirms on his lap a little and then shrugs. "I guess I like having you all to myself."

"Oh _do you_?" He pulls her to his mouth by the sides of her head, softer than before, slower as he grins against her lips at her admission.

"Stop gloating and finish undressing me already."

"Really give Lanie something to talk about?"

"Stop talking about Lanie when your hands are on me." She lifts up a little bit, shifts, ditches her pants. "Unless you want to call her back? You two would be cute together." She can't contain her mocking grin as his eyes widen comically at the thought.

"No no no," he rushes out, pulling her to him again. "Only you. Just you."

She shivers a little bit at his sureness. "Good."

"Good."

"Castle?"

"Yeah?"

She tugs at his thigh. "_Pants._"

* * *

(ps - let's just all pretend that Lanie actually has a shred of self restraint and does not in fact immediately go out and tell everyone that castle and beckett are together because that would _totally_ ruin my story kthanx.)


	3. Will Sorenson

_3. will sorenson_

* * *

It's three days before her first day back at the Twelfth. Three days before things get back to normal? Things get shaken up? Things get…complicated? Simplified? _Different_? All she knows is that it's time, that this sabbatical with Castle has only proven to her how much of the job is _in her_. She's _good_ at it, she helps people, she can advocate for these victims without losing herself to the darkness again. She's got him now, Castle, to tether her to the land of the living and no more qualms about letting him fill that role for her, letting him in, doing this with him.

So, three days, and she's taking them with him before they both go back to the late nights, dead bodies, hovering detectives. Lanie has promised to keep a lid on what she knows about them, for the price of one extremely illuminating girls night out, and Castle wants to see how long it will take the boys to realize something has changed anyway. And Gates, well. They can both be professionals, right? Keep their hands to themselves at the precinct, at crime scenes, in the elevator –

"We need cereal!" Castle calls from her left, ambling her way with their big, squeaky shopping cart, interrupting her train of thought.

"Cereal?"

"Yeah, for _breakfast_?" He shakes his head at her, walking purposefully toward the cereal aisle of the grocery store as she slings her purse into the front of their cart. "We can't have pancakes every day, we'll get _fat_."

She snorts at him because she's never seen him eat anything remotely healthy for breakfast in the entire time she's known him, but _okay Castle_. Her eyes trip over the colorful boxes as they walk, yellow Cheerios, green Apple Jacks, purple Raisin Bran, and then he's skidding to a halt right in front of –

"Lucky Charms, Castle? Really?"

He's grinning as he takes them off the shelf, shaking the box as if to check that he's picked the fullest one, the one heaviest with marshmallows.

"You know that's just as unhealthy as pancakes, right?"

"There are _whole grains_ in these, Beckett." He sounds scandalized that she would suggest otherwise.

"Let me see," she says, a guise to grab the box from him, and then she's backing away, moving to slide them back onto the shelf. He shrieks a little bit at her, lunging for his precious box of sugary goodness, but she's almost as tall as he is on her toes, holding the box up over her head. "No Castle!" she says, holding one hand up and trying not to laugh at the desperate look on his face. "It's for your own good!"

"It is _not_ – " His fingertips climb her arm, reaching for the box, but she's holding it just out of his reach. "Give them back," he growls at her, voice hitting this low note she rarely hears outside of his bedroom and then _oh_ he's kind of pressing her back into the shelf with his entire body, and she feels her arm begin to wobble a little bit above them.

She will _not_ be bested this way though, no she will _not. _

"Give them back to me," he breathes against her, letting his right hand feather across her side. Her shirt is rucked up in the front because of the way she's standing, exposing an inch of skin along her abdomen, and it's there that he touches, light but sure. His chest is against hers too, heaving a little bit, creating that slide of friction that makes her want for more.

Their heads tilt together a little bit then, that ever present magnetic pull between them, and she uses it to her advantage until he's just shy of her lips to whisper "_no_."

The fingers of his right hand tighten against her waist, the other hand abandoning her raised arm to firmly pin her to the shelves at her back. "Are you sure you want to play this game here, Detective?" he taunts her, using her title for the first time in weeks, and it makes her more than a little bit breathless. His nose nudges against her jaw as he draws his words out, lips skimming, and her eyes droop halfway closed at the sudden rush of heat that flashes through her. _Shit_.

"Get the Raisin Bran," she chokes out, going for commanding but not quite making it when his lips wrap around her ear lobe.

"I don't want Raisin Bran." His lips move from her ear to her cheek, dropping open mouthed kisses until he gets to her lips, tugging a shallow kiss from her there before his left hand starts softly trailing up her arm again. "I want me Lucky Charms."

She snorts against his mouth, standing higher on her toes to keep the box out of his reach, inadvertently aligning their hips perfectly. "Mmm," she hums. "Feels like you want something _else_ – " and then his mouth is crashing over hers with an _umph_ and it's all she can do not to drop the red box in her hand completely.

His tongue is rolling over her bottom lip before she can even make sure their aisle is empty (it is, for now), and the whimper that spills from her mouth is as involuntary as it is _loud, _and then his palm is halfway up the back of her shirt as she gasps around his tongue and she's really, really thinking about letting him take her right up against the shelf of the cereal aisle of the grocery store in the middle of the day until her shiny haze of lust is cut through with a foreign sounding cough.

To his credit, Castle pulls away as quickly as she pushes him off, leaving her draped halfway across three different kinds of cereal, panting shallowly and clutching a box of Lucky Charms.

"_Kate_?" the offending cough speaks, making her swing her head around until she realizes that they've been completely caught groping each other in the grocery store by none other than Will Sorenson.

_Well_.

"Sorenson," comes Castle's less than amused voice before she can speak, that familiar thread of distaste lining his words before she sees him trying to hold back a smirk. _Men_.

Will gives Castle a squint and then promptly proceeds to ignore him, turning his gaze to the fairer detective. "I thought you were over all that sugary stuff," he says, grinning wryly and motioning to her cereal box but meaning _Castle_, trying to reconstruct that easy rapport they once had.

She hears Castle choking on his own words beside her, so she shoves the box into his hands to distract him. "Yeah, well," she shrugs. She thought she was over a lot of things before she met Castle.

"So are you two?" he motions between them, and she can feel the sarcasm radiating from Castle's body, can hear him in her head saying something about how his tongue was just in her mouth and his hands were all over her but _no they're not_ –

"Yes, we are," he answers before she can, tossing his freshly won cereal into their cart.

Will eyeballs the eggs, paper towels, and shampoo they've already picked up. "How domestic."

Beckett thinks he might let it go at that, toss a _nice to see you_ at her and leave, but the lingering tension from the _last_ time the three of them were together apparently lingers.

"Finally landed your dream man, Kate?" He's being an ass, and she holds her breath because she knows from his tone that he is not done. "Does the real man stack up to the fantasy?"

Castle moves from her left to intervene, but she shoots out a palm, and he hangs back. Good boy.

"Don't be a jackass, Will." He at least has the decency to look mildly embarrassed, takes a step back from her. The glint in his eye reads to her like he wants to tell her she would have been better off with him, but he doesn't say it, just raises his hands in a gesture of surrender and starts to back out of their aisle.

"Enjoy your Lucky Charms."

He turns his back and disappears around a corner and then Castle is swearing _yeah she will_ under his breath like a belated comeback, making her roll her eyes and bite back a smile.

"Well, we can't be everyone's dream couple," he says, shrugging and hurrying their cart out of the cereal aisle before she can snatch up his Lucky Charms again. "It's a much better story if we have a nemesis anyway."

"A nemesis? Really Castle."

"I'm just saying, every hero needs a foil."

"Oh so now you're the _hero_ of this story too?"

Their shoulders bump as he knocks a box of Raisin Bran off the shelf at the end of the aisle, refusing to make eye contact with her as he does, making a tight warmth bloom through her chest.

"Well, I mean, unless you regularly have fantasies about men who _aren't_ the heroes of their stories…" He lets his voice trail off, cutting a sideways leer at her and ugh _fuck_ Will for opening that can of worms again.

She levels him with that _look_ she has, the one that usually makes him shut up (or mercilessly keep going, depending on his mood), sliding a palm around his back and leaning into his ear. "Did you already forget how much I _love_ bad boys?"

Castle chokes on his own saliva as she presses an open mouthed kiss to his cheek, rocking back smugly onto her heels to continue walking by his side to the register.

"Wait," he says, stopping suddenly, eyes going wide in that way he does when he's just had a brilliant idea. She waits for it, as always. "Should we go back and get some Count Chocula then?" his expression goes from wide eyed and open mouthed to squinty and completely amused with himself and she smacks him across the back of his head.

"Just count yourself lucky you got those Lucky Charms and let's go _home_."

"Sure you don't want to smack me around a little more?"

"_Castle_."

"Going."


	4. Ryan and Esposito

**A/N: **Assume this takes place after Ryan and Esposito have worked out their finale issues. They're finding out together because how could they _not_.

* * *

_4. ryan and esposito_

* * *

Ryan has a list.

Ryan has a list that he hides on the last page of the notebook he takes to crime scenes, but it's there, and he is watching.

That's what he says anyway, dramatically and with a flourish as he and Esposito trade the notebook back and forth, sharing intel like they're in the CIA.

* * *

_1. Found a suspicious long, light brown hair on Castle's jacket. Removed with tweezers while he was in interrogation and forwarded to Lanie for testing. Results pending._

Elevator rides are dangerous now, or challenges, depending how one looks at things. He's more the type to view it as the latter, but she's carrying a gun again and neither of them wants Gates on their back about their new _status_. So they're being careful. Touching is for home, and well, trying not to touch is for work.

They do try.

Not touching is _hard_.

"I can still be in on this interrogation, right?" he asks her, leaning in closer than is necessary. They're alone for once, sliding between floors as they head up, and he just can't help himself.

"If you can behave." She stares at him from under her eyelashes as he tries to look innocent, like he doesn't know what she's talking about, like he didn't shove her into a stairwell after the first interrogation they did together after coming back to the Twelfth.

"I'll _try_," he breathes, right next to her ear now, nose nudging away the soft curl of her hair. The hitch in her breathing is barely detectable, but he catches it, lets his mouth brush lightly against her cheek as she rocks back on her heels, trying not to engage.

A hot huff of air spills from her as she gives in, just for a second, to his proximity, presses one hard, open mouthed kiss to his lips and then shoves him away. His eyes are wide and unfocused as the elevator doors ping open and she walks out backward.

Her stare is all the warning he needs. Be cool, Castle. Be cool.

He's _hot_ though, a little warm under the collar, so he slides his jacket off as they pass her desk, draping it over the back of her chair, and then follows her hurriedly to the interrogation room.

He does _not_ want to miss this.

* * *

_2. Beckett arrives at the precinct in a turtleneck. It is 92 degrees outside. _

A bead of sweat slides slowly from Beckett's neck, down between her breasts underneath her shirt, making her shift uncomfortably in front of the cruiser parked just outside the line of police tape marking her new crime scene. The thick fabric of her turtleneck clings to her skin, all but strangling her in the oppressive heat.

"Feeling chilly this morning?" Esposito tosses at her, hiding behind his sunglasses and a smirk. _Funny_.

"Laundry day," she says coolly, daring him to push.

"Don't you usually wear _less_ clothes on laundry day?" Ryan chimes in, and then they're both looking at her in this knowing way that makes her want to slap them both and then slap Castle because it's _his_ fault she's wearing this oppressive and completely noticeable turtleneck in the middle of summer.

He saunters up to her just then, completely oblivious to the dark scowl she's harboring until he catches sight of her face and flinches back a little bit.

"Maybe you should buy her a new shirt, bro. Girl looks _hot_." Ryan laughs and bumps shoulders with Esposito as they continue to pick at her.

"Do you guys want to get on with this crime scene, or should I call Joan Rivers so you can keep talking about what I'm wearing today."

They both look just a little bit sheepish at her reprimand, and turn to duck under the police tape as she and Castle follow.

"Sorry," he whispers in her ear as his hand settles against her lower back, helping her under the tape. She cuts a glare at him and he yanks his fingers away apologetically.

"Next time you want to bite me, Castle? Do it somewhere I can cover with _regular_ clothes."

"Next time?" he chokes, and then she's rolling her eyes at him, approaching the clump of uniforms crouched low on the street, trying not to feel victorious.

* * *

_3. After lunch, Castle's coffee cup is in the middle of Beckett's desk. Took a swab of the rim, sent down to Lanie for testing. Still awaiting results for the hair found on his jacket as well. _

Beckett throws back her last swig of coffee, grimacing around the bitter liquid in her mouth. Ugh not _enough_. She's tired today, the backs of her eyelids like sandpaper as she tries to focus on the murder board, tries to make things make sense instead of daydreaming about her pillow. Or his pillow. Mmm his bed is so much more comfortable than hers –

No.

_No._

Work. Work. Murder.

Castle?

He brushes up against her side as she chews on her lip, trying hard to focus her eyes on the scrawl of her own handwriting in front of her. He takes a sip of his own coffee like he's mocking her.

"Anything?" he asks, but all she can do is shake her head and stare at the cup he's cradling gently between his palms.

Her chair bounces as she flops down into it, pulling herself to her desk to try for some distraction, wiggling her computer mouse to wake it up. He follows her a minute later, sitting in his chair, as always, watching her, sipping his drink until he sets it down to speak. He's spinning some tale about the case, but she can't seem to focus on his words, only his coffee cup sitting oh so close, all she has to do is reach out and –

He hardly misses a beat as her hand shoots out and wraps around his cup, sliding it toward her like the true prize it is. _Caffeine_, mmmmm. The plastic of his lid is warm against her mouth, from him or his coffee, she doesn't know, but the low hum she releases as the dark liquid passes through her lips, over her tongue and down her throat is so appreciative she can almost feel him canting toward her on instinct alone.

"Good?" he leers, completely distracted from his story now, shuffling his chair closer so he can spread an open palm against her knee. She glances around over the lid of his cup, but no one's watching them, and he's sitting close enough that his body is blocking anyone's view of her leg. So she allows it, just for a minute, in exchange for him saying nothing about her stealing his coffee.

"_So_ good," she breathes, eyes heavy and just for him. It's too much for the middle of the precinct, especially with his hand creeping up her thigh, but she's so tired she can't muster the effort to keep herself in check.

"Are you going to drink it all?"

She hems and haws, takes another long sip, makes a show of licking her lips. "Maybe I'll let you have some." _From her mouth_.

Ryan and Esposito interrupt them then, calling _yo Beckett_ from the other side of the bullpen, motioning for her to come to them. Castle jerks his hand off of the top of her thigh (such a sneaky one, that Castle), and she sets down his coffee cup with a wistful sigh in the middle of her desk, hoping she drank enough to take her edge off.

Or at least _one_ of her edges off anyway.

* * *

_4. Making out against her car. Case closed._

She's pissed as she stalks out of the parking garage elevator, long strides carrying her halfway to her car before Castle catches up to her.

"Beckett."

Nothing.

"Beckett, _wait_." He's exasperated following her, she's practically sprinting trying to put as much physical space between her and Gates as possible. Some things never change.

"Beck – _oomph_," Castle almost knocks her over when she stops dead in front of him, hovering at the trunk of her unmarked, chewing on her bottom lip. "Look, you know Gates, she's just trying to – "

She cuts him off again, but this time with her mouth, fisting both of her hands in the lapels of his jacket and shoving him up against the back door of her car. He grunts into her mouth, which is open and _oh_ her tongue is sweeping out, rolling over his bottom lip, fighting it's way into his mouth as his hands shoot out uselessly and then finally settle on the sides of her shoulders.

"What – " he starts to ask between kisses, but then she's all long and lean, pressed right up against him in literally every place she can possibly reach and he decides he really does not _care_ why she has chosen this moment to manhandle him (literally) in the parking garage of the precinct.

She's groaning into his mouth, bumping her pelvis into his as his fingers curl around her waist just as a loud _oh boy_ goes bouncing around the concrete walls and they jerk apart. They're both panting as Ryan and Esposito regard them smugly, arms crossed in twin big brother expressions.

"_Perfect_," Beckett swears, using her right hand to sweep the hair out of her eyes, rub three fingers across her mouth like she's trying to wipe him off.

"You two want to explain this?" Esposito asks sharply, indicating between them with a finger. Castle doesn't know if he realizes it, but he's unconsciously leading with the hip carrying his badge and gun.

_Gulp_.

Castle opens his mouth, closes it again, opens it, but nothing comes out until Esposito's face breaks into a grin and then everyone is shuffling and laughing, albeit a little awkwardly.

"Don't worry man, we're just fucking with you," Esposito laughs, eyeballing Ryan like they've been waiting for this. "You guys haven't exactly been _subtle_ since you got back."

"You knew?" Castle breathes, so sure they had been careful. Well, she had been trying to be careful anyway.

"Well, not for sure," Ryan jumps in, fingering the little notebook in his pocket. "I mean, the tests weren't back yet – "

Esposito cuts him off with a tiny shake of his head.

"Tests…?"

"Not important," he breezes, clasping Castle hard on the shoulder.

"_Ow_."

"We're happy for you guys." Both boys give them approving nods, and really it feels good for them to know, it was weird hiding it from them. Ryan moves in to give Beckett a friendly shoulder nudge, and Esposito takes the opportunity to lean into Castle's ear, this time speaking just for him. "Bro if you hurt her?"

Castle's eyes get wide as he shakes his head and raises his hands, palms up, a kind of surrender. "Never."

Esposito only nods, taking his exhaled promise as seriously as he meant it. "Drinks to celebrate?"

Beckett looks like she sincerely needs one.

"On you, buddy." Ryan grins at him, patting him on the chest.

Beckett tries to hide her smile as they all start to pile into her car, and Castle takes the opportunity to grab her by the elbow and press his mouth to hers, just once, just because he can.

"Oh _ew_." Muffled sounds of disgust come drifting through the closed doors of her car, making them both laugh against each other's mouths.

"Save it for later, Castle," she breathes into him, pinching his side lightly, playfully.

"Yes ma'am."


	5. Meredith

_5. meredith_

* * *

They stumble off his elevator in a tangle, her arm thrown around the back of his neck, his hand inside of her sweater, splayed across her back, both of their feet trying to take steps without tripping over the other. The hallway is blessedly deserted, as it generally is at two o'clock in the morning, long empty swaths of carpet only serving to absorb the sounds of tripping heels and barely contained groans.

"_Castle_," Beckett breathes into his mouth, shoving him a little bit so she doesn't end up laid flat out on the hallway floor. "I thought you hate it when I drive."

Castle grunts an unintelligible noise into her neck, using his grip on her waist to spin her up and against the wall. "I don't hate it when you drive my Ferrari," he licks into the skin behind her ear, biting down as she arches against him with a gasp, letting her head loll back against the wall behind her.

"You like watching my hand on your _stick_?" He swallows her teasing tone with his mouth, tongue stroking slippery against hers as he presses her farther backward, palm landing solidly just beside her head with a dull slap. His reaction is a bit of a surprise, she's driven his car before, and drives him around in her own on a daily basis, but he had just enough to drink at dinner, and her dress is just on the right side of too short, the perfect storm of _I need you right now_.

He slides the hand not holding himself above her down and underneath the hem of her dress, loose enough for him to slide a palm completely up the outside of her thigh. He's squeezing then, dragging an _ahh_ from her lips as he moves his other hand down, hoisting her up so she's got both legs wrapped around his waist and his rather _obvious_ reaction to this whole situation pressed directly against the scrappy piece of lace in between her thighs.

Castle's mouth moves from her lips to her cheek and across her jaw, open and hot and _wet_ as he grinds his hips against her, making her gasp. Her hands slide through his hair, gripping at his ears as her hips twist up and off the wall, encouraging him even though they're practically in public and his bedroom is only feet away.

"Castle," she moans into his ear, bites her lip as she tries to clear her throat enough to speak. "_Castle_."

He brings his head back up so he can look at her eyes, but it really does the opposite of helping deter him from completely ravaging her in the middle of his hallway because she watches his eyes darken considerably as he takes in the look on her own face. She doesn't have the ability to see her own expression, but if it's anything like the one he's shooting her, she needs to get control of this situation, and fast.

"Castle," she starts again, swallowing thickly as he presses his forehead to hers, letting his hands trail lightly up and down her thighs, fingernails scraping gently as she tries not to twist into the sensation. "If you never ask me to drive again at the precinct," she says thickly, lips brushing just barely over his, voice flirting with the tone she only ever uses in the bedroom, "I'll let you fuck me against this wall."

He growls into her mouth as he swallows her words, pressing his tongue against hers again and again until he tears himself away, leaving her panting. He's got a glint in his eye she knows all too well.

"Beckett, Beckett," he sing songs, pulling another kiss from her lips, too coherent for the state he's in. "That really doesn't seem like a fair trade." His voice drops low as he lets his hips grind into hers again, making her climb the wall behind her because it feels so _good_. His mouth is at her ear again then, biting and then breathing hotly. "You're _way_ too into this."

He's right, of course, damn him for being able to turn her on like this, but she could honestly not care less as long as he doesn't _stop_.

"Take me inside then." She's impatient, knows she's tipping her hand but she wants to be not standing up, she wants him to –

"What if I don't want to _take you_ inside?" He sinks his teeth into the soft skin of her neck, thumping with the blood he's made hot for him, tonguing it like he owns it.

She gasps his name again, squeezing her legs around his middle, her crisscrossed heels digging into his lower back. She's just contemplating actually letting him do this to her against the wall in front of the elevator when she hears the familiar sound of his front door opening, down the hall on her left. Her head snaps in the direction of the sound, but she's too fuzzy with lust to do anything but stare as she watches fiery red hair come strutting out through the doorway. The cold, lightning fast dread that zips through her at the thought of _Alexis_ catching them doing this is quick, but then Meredith is turning her smug face toward them, expression frozen in surprise and…victory? at catching them in the act.

Beckett shoves at Castle's chest as she unhooks her legs from around him, all but falling down the wall as he finally realizes they have an audience. He steps in front of her, shielding her for a moment as she rearranges her dress, tugs it down her thighs so she doesn't look like she was just letting Castle have his way with her in public.

"Well, well, well, hello _Richard_," Meredith finally speaks, shouldering her thousand dollar handbag as she steps fully into the hallway. Beckett slides off her sweater, passing it to Castle as stealthily as she can, mumbling for him to hold it in front of his pants just as his daughter peeks her head out into the hall to see what all the commotion is about.

Beckett feels her cheeks pink as the girl's eyes widen, and then dart away from them, staring at the floor.

"Alexis dear," her mother addresses her, eyes narrowly staring at the disheveled couple still hunched against the wall. "You didn't tell me your father and Detective Beckett are seeing each other. Against walls."

Before Castle or Beckett can respond, Martha pops through the doorway as well, and then it's a red headed, three tiered grandmother-mother-daughter viewing party as Beckett tries not to melt into a pool of embarrassment on the carpet she's sure costs more than she makes in a month.

"Oh Kate, hello darling!" comes Martha's voice, ringing clearly and jovially through the space, cutting some of the tension. No one seems angry, Beckett is glad to see, but Meredith is the type to twist someone she finds in a compromising position, especially if that someone is the other woman in Castle's life.

"Hi Martha," Beckett says, peeking around Castle's shoulder and then stepping out front behind him, not keen to play submissive in front of Meredith. Sure, they got caught mounting each other in the hallway, but she's not about to let Meredith torture her about it. "Alexis, Meredith," Beckett says in greeting to the other two women, affecting a cool façade. She can tell Castle is impressed beside her, but she doesn't want to look at him.

It's all put on pleasantries after that, Meredith showed up unannounced, _again_, tried to crash for the night at the loft but Martha apparently nipped that one (Beckett makes a mental note to thank her later), and was just heading off to find a hotel when she happened upon Castle and Beckett in the hallway. Alexis looks pink cheeked through their entire exchange, but does nothing but shrug noncommittally at her dad as she leaves the adults in the hall.

"Well, don't let me keep you," Meredith says, voice dripping with put upon agreeableness. "I know how Richard gets when there's a woman with a tight dress around." She has the audacity to _wink_ at Beckett as she breezes past, like they're sharing an in joke about a mutual conquest (_gross_), and then saves one last dainty wave for Castle as she steps onto the elevator and heads down.

"Well, that was awkward!" Martha blurts before airily drifting back into the loft, heading for the kitchen, and three wine glasses, Beckett would guess.

"Did she just _wink_ at me?" Beckett asks Castle under her breath, looking a little bit shell shocked as she follows him into the foyer and pushes the door shut behind them.

"I wasn't going to say anything in case you didn't notice," he says, pursing his lips exaggeratedly, looking very much like he wants to point out exactly how little control over Meredith he has. "And just for the record," he stops as Martha hands them both full wine glasses and then retires upstairs with a wave, "that thing she said about me and women in tight dresses is _not true_."

Beckett's eyes roll and narrow as she swipes her sweater away from where it's hanging over his pants and takes a large sip of her wine, indicating to his lap with a raised eyebrow as she does.

"Well, I mean, you're the exception of _course_. You could be wearing a plastic bag and I would still react like this." His voice knocks down to that throaty grumble she loves so much as he gazes hotly at her over his wine glass advancing on her now as she backs her way across the living room to his office.

"I don't think I'm in the mood anymore, after that," she throws at him over her shoulder as she walks unhurriedly toward his bedroom door, rolling her neck and yawning. He crowds up against her back in a second though, dropping an open mouthed kiss against her neck.

"Beckettttt," he whines, drawing out her name in that way he always does. "Don't be cruel." She shakes her head from side to side, pretending to consider it, but then he's in front of her and walking her backward until she bumps her back against the wall again.

"Don't make me spill my wine, Castle."

"I wouldn't dream of it," he breathes into her mouth, and then he's kissing her again, slow and deep and maddening. "I'll make it worth your while," he promises around her tongue, letting his free hand move up her side to cup her through her dress.

"Mmm," she sighs. "Is that right, _kitten_?"

He stops abruptly at the use of the nickname, one he hasn't heard her utter since that first time she met Meredith, four years ago. She tries to hold back the laugh bubbling up her chest at his face, but mostly fails as he crowds her further into the wall, looking very, very serious.

"I thought I told you not to ever call me that." She shivers at the darkness in his tone, lets her hips rub against him just at the sound of it.

"Sorry, couldn't resist."

"I'll make you sorry," he swears into her ear as he sets his wine down on the dresser next to them, freeing up both hands to draw fire from her body.

"I thought you were going to make it _worth my while_." He's everywhere on her at once as she tries to remain unaffected, but then he's plucking her own wine from her fingers, leaving her powerless against touching him.

"You were just two seconds away from letting me _fuck_ you in the hallway," he says, throwing her own words back at her very, very successfully. "I think I can do both."

"Hmm, if you can," she muses, letting him slide his hands back under her thighs to pick her up and walk her back toward the bed. "I'll consider never, ever calling you – "

Before she can get the nickname out of her mouth, he's tossing her onto the bed, climbing her until their mouths are fused together and her dress is pushed halfway up her flushed body.

She calls him many things that night, but none of them is _kitten_.


	6. The Coffee Guy

_6. the coffee guy_

* * *

The coffee shop around the corner from the precinct is loud, the hustle and bustle of a weekday morning saturating the air with small talk, phone calls, the sound of coffee being ordered, the bell above the door tinkling softly every time it opens or shuts. It's a charming little place actually, one Beckett has only ever seen from the outside, never actually with Castle in the morning when he makes his stop for their morning cup. Today is different though, they're sandwiched in the middle of the snaking line, right in the middle of the shop, waiting for their turn before heading into work _together_.

She twines her pinky around his just because she can, eyes curiously scanning the trendy looking people talking animatedly at the round, white tables scattered around the store. The familiar taste of her favorite coffee almost ghosts across her tongue just at the smell of the air, the haze of an early morning lifting just from the atmosphere. She likes it here.

When her eyes finally make their way back to Castle's face, he's smiling at her, watching her take in his favorite little coffee nook, a little bit of smugness tucked into the corners of his lips.

"What?" she asks absently as they take a step forward, one person closer to the register.

He just shakes his head, but she draws closer to him, squinting her eyes.

"It's just funny that you've never been here before." He shrugs and she rolls her eyes a little bit.

"But you came here every day right?" He nods and she feels warm inside, lit from within from the hundreds of cups of coffee he's bought her over the years. He's probably on a first name basis with everyone who works here. Her eyes drop down to his mouth as he keeps smiling at her, this weird kind of glee radiating from him at bringing her here, a place he used to go alone, now for them together. "Thank you," she whispers against his lips, and then she's pressing against him there, solidly, probably too much for where they are right now but she's a little bit overwhelmed by how long he's actually been around. His palm comes up to cup her cheek, to slide into the back of her hair as he kisses her soundly back, tasting like toothpaste because they haven't had their coffee yet, but then a loud voice is saying something from her right and she pulls back just enough to see a small, round man with jet black hair clasping his hands and grinning at them from behind the counter.

"Ricky!" he shouts cheerily. Castle releases her head and waves at the man, shooting him a little finger gun (_Castle_), but then the man's focus shifts squarely onto her. "Grande skim latte with two pumps of sugar free vanilla!" he shouts at her as if he's remembering her name.

"Uh, yes?" she agrees, shooting a quizzical glance at Castle out of the corner of her eye.

"I kept asking Ricky _where's your lady! _but he always comes in alone and orders two coffees to go and says _maybe this one will do the trick!_ It finally worked!"

Beckett is choking back a laugh at the absurdity of the conversation they are having as Castle's cheeks pink beside her as he tries to hold his own laughter in. "Well, I do love my coffee?" she finally says, and then Castle's pressing her closer to the register with a hand on the small of her back, charming as ever as he orders their coffees to go. Castle pays as she reaches for their cups and finds two hearts drawn carefully on the lids. The man grins at her as she takes them, and she can't help but smile back at him with a genuine thanks, despite the slightly embarrassing surrealness of their entire exchange.

As they shuffle out of the shop, pushing out of the tinkling door and past the throngs of people, Castle crowds her around the corner so they're relatively alone for a moment. "Sorry about that," he says, a little bit sheepishly, but his eyes are too bright to read completely sincere.

"Don't pretend like you didn't know that was going to happen, Castle." She takes a little sip of her coffee, _ugh so good_, as she stares at him over the lid of her cup.

Castle's mouth opens in mock confusion, playing innocent.

"You just wanted to _show me off_."

"I would – "

"_Definitely_ do that?"

He shuts his mouth, shrugging as he takes a sip of his own coffee, trying to hide the grin creeping up the sides of his mouth. "Maybe."

"Mmhmm."

"Question is," he finally says, letting his coffee rest at his side as he backs her up against the wall. She grips her own cup tightly between their chests, feeling the warmth of it through her shirt as he gets as close as he can to her without crushing it. "Which do you love more, your coffee or _me_?"

"Oh, hard one." She pretends to think on it, watches him start to pout, brings her hand up to drag her thumb across his bottom lip. "Take a sip of my coffee," she says softly, raising up her cup from between them and to his mouth. He doesn't break eye contact as he lets his fingers wrap around hers, taking a small sip from the place her mouth had just been. She lets it drop again when he finishes, standing on her toes to press her mouth to his, letting her tongue roll against his bottom lip and then slide into his mouth, tasting the sweet vanilla of her coffee and _him_. Once he realizes what she's doing, he presses back, tongue sliding into her mouth firmly as she groans into him, taking everything he's offering. Her palm is flat on his chest when she finally pushes him away, just enough so she can speak into the space between them. "See? I can have everything I want, I don't even have to choose."

She smiles at him, bright, alive.

He smiles back, tilts his forehead until it's resting against hers. "You can, you know. Have everything you've ever wanted."

The weight of his words hit her in the gut like a brick, the way he believes them like absolute truth. "I know," she whispers, and when he says it, she _believes him_. He's asking her a question with his eyes as he holds her there, pinned to the wall with his body and his words, but she doesn't let him ask it, takes this chance to be the one offering up. "You're what I want, Castle," she breathes against his lips as she watches his eyes slide closed, and then she's up on her toes again, kissing him.

They only stop when the lid of her coffee cup pops off from the pressure of his chest against hers, threatening to spill the scalding liquid over the both of them if they don't put some space between them. She looks sheepish as he steps back and she fixes the lid, running her finger along the little black heart on the top. He shoots her a lopsided smile as he watches her do it, making her smile dumbly.

"So how much did you tip him for the hearts?" she asks as she bumps his shoulder with her own, slowly walking back onto the sidewalk. They're already late for work, but she just can't bring herself to rush.

"That was all him," Castle insists, finally taking a sip of his own coffee. "He's been waiting for this moment for a _very_ long time, Beckett."

"Do you know how many?"

"How many…?"

"How many coffees until your diabolical plan 'worked'."

He pretends to calculate, like he doesn't know the number off the top of his head. "About a thousand."

A thousand. Sounds like forever. "Was it worth the wait?" she finally mumbles, taking a sip out of her own cup to hide the interest in her words. She knows how he feels about her, how he's felt for so long, but she's still got insecurities she seriously needs to shake. He's helping.

"I kept coming back, didn't I?"

She swallows her coffee on a smile, pretending to glance up at the buildings around them interestedly. "So does this mean I have to buy my own coffee now?"

"You just have to come with me now," he breathes into her ear, making her shiver.

"Wouldn't want to disappoint your friends at the coffee shop."

"Absolutely not."

"Absolutely not," she echoes.

Her pinky finger catches his as they walk.


	7. Gates

_7. gates_

* * *

The stairwell is dank and cool compared to the stifling, sticky heat of the Twelfth Precinct bullpen, the oppressive August day seeping in through the cracks in the foundation, through every brick, making sweat cling to Beckett's skin in any place it can bead, pool. It's making her _crazy, _honestly, because it's hard enough to think at all in the cloying heat, but add in a heated Castle with an equally heated stare to the mix and she's a goner.

"You need to _stop_," she spits at him, poking his shoulder with her finger until he's backed up against the wall, metal railing digging into his back. She's actually a little bit jealous of how cool the sleek rod must feel against his shirt, just a hint of relief from the temperature. _Focus, Beckett_.

He's got one foot on her step, one on the step below, evening out their heights almost exactly. "Stop _what_." He looks clueless, but his eyes dip down to her chest again, following a bead of sweat as it trails its way down the v-neck tshirt she's wearing. It's loose but clings across her chest from the dampness of her skin, or the swell of her bra, whichever, just enticing enough to be repeatedly catching Castle's attention all day long.

"Stop staring at my boobs like you've seen me _naked_." The hiss of her voice is enough to make his guilty eyes snap up to hers, but then he's shrugging like it can't be helped.

"You never wear shirts like this at work," he tries to explain. "And I _have_ seen you naked, so it's not entirely my fault if you can tell that I have."

"_Castle_."

"And you didn't," he continues, sliding his fingers underneath the hem of her shirt to play at the waistband of her black pants, leaning his head too close and suddenly she's mesmerized by his lips. "You didn't even let me _touch_ you this morning, and it's so hot and did you know that I can almost see the top of your bra in this shirt?"

"Then stop looking," she breathes, almost into his mouth and then she's arching into him slightly as his wandering fingers drag the back of her shirt up, letting the air from the stairwell brush against the dampness of her skin, cooling it slightly.

"You should take your shirt off, cool down for a minute." His words caress her lips as he tugs the back of her shirt higher and she finds herself almost nodding, hypnotized by his mouth and his proximity and the _coolness_ of the air most of all, until his devious fingers brush her bra strap and she remembers where they are.

"Stop it!" she swears suddenly, pushing off of his chest and out of his reach, her shirt falling back over her skin, trapping nothing but heat and sweat. _Ugh_. He doesn't stop though, just follows her to the other side of the small stairwell, pressing her against the wall with his presence alone, not actually touching her.

"Just trying to help."

"It would help if you would stop making me so – "

"_Hot_?" he finishes for her, leering in an innocent sort of way, if such a thing is even possible. Pretending like he doesn't know exactly what he does to her.

"_Furious_."

"Hot headed then? Still counts as hot."

"_Castle_," she growls, her fists wrapping around the thin material of the tshirt he's wearing, to throttle him or something, but then his mouth is slanting over hers, _hard_. Impossibly, his tongue is hotter than the entire length of his body, sliding against hers in a way that makes her shiver, drinking from his mouth like he's the tall glass of ice water she so desperately craves.

His hands find their way under her shirt again, spreading wide over her sides, her back, playing with that bra he's been fantasizing about in front of her all day long, finally reaching around to grab at the front of it. She gasps into his mouth as he does, arching into his grasp, begging for more as a flash of heat swamps her, making her cheeks pink alarmingly. She feels dizzy, connects with his mouth in a series of quick, sloppy kisses as he slides a knee between her thighs and then everything is too much, too hot, she can't breathe, so she wraps a fist in the hair at the back of his head and _pulls_.

"Castle," she gaps, tugs again. "Stop, you have to stop." Her hips roll against his thigh even as she begs him to stop touching her, but he must hear the desperate thread to her voice, does let his hands drop to her hips, thumbs dragging circles into the hollows there as he tries to hold her hips still.

He pries one last light kiss from her mouth and then pulls back. "Too hot?" he asks, a slick trail of sweat sliding its way from his temple and down the side of his neck, lingering temptingly over his jumping pulse for a moment. She has to rip her eyes away to keep from lunging for it with her mouth.

"Too hot. Later," she pants, pushing his shoulder just enough to get him to take a step back, and then tepid air is swirling in around her again, the once cool stairwell feeling altogether stifling now. She drops her head into her hands, scrubbing them over her pink face, trying to pull herself together. She is at _work_. "You want to go get us some coffee?" she asks, trying to shove some space between them before someone has to come take her to the hospital for heat stroke because she couldn't keep her hands off her partner in the middle of a heat wave.

"Coffee?" his grimace is absolute, she can almost see him sweating harder.

"Iced coffee, Castle. With ice cubes."

"Right. Ice cubes." His gaze goes unfocused as he stares at her mouth, the word 'ice cubes' conjuring who knows what image for him. He backs up the steps though, not touching her again as he shoulders his way out of the stairwell, shooting her one last hot look before the door shuts on her completely.

She sighs deeply, leaning against the wall for a string of minutes until she can bear to trek her way back up the stairs and into the sea of bodies awaiting her.

* * *

It's about a half an hour later when Castle shows up again, holding two gloriously sweating large iced coffees. He thrusts one out to her without speaking, sucking on his own green straw.

She groans obscenely the second the freezing liquid hits her tongue, sweet with the extra vanilla he always has them pump in for her, perfectly cool as it slides down her throat and down to her stomach. He arches an eyebrow at her as if to say _really_? but she ignores him, rolling her eyes and pulling herself farther into her desk as Castle starts to plop down into his chair. The second he makes contact though, he shoots right back up because Gates is standing right behind him, snapping her fingers sharply.

"You two, in my office now." She doesn't even wait for a response, just turns on her heel and leaves, office door left ominously ajar for them.

Castle and Beckett share a look between them, both setting their coffees down on their shared desk with some reluctance, the cool beverages so much more appealing than whatever awaits them in the other room. Beckett leads the way, as she always does in the precinct, Castle shuffling into Gates' office behind her.

"Shut the door please."

Castle does the honors, and Beckett can almost hear the air suck out of his lungs as the doorknob snicks into place.

"Sir?"

Gates says nothing, just slowly, precisely pulls an 8x10 image from a file to her left, slides it across her desk face down. She nods once, indicating Beckett should pick it up, so she does, lifting it from its corner until she's holding it face up, a grainy but obvious picture of she and Castle staring back at her.

Castle gasps comically behind her, she can almost see him slapping a hand over his own mouth as she stares at the picture – her pressed against the wall in the stairwell, Castle's hands up the front of her shirt, his thigh between her legs. She's arching away from the wall, mouth open over his, one hand fisted in his shirt, the other lost in his hair somewhere on the side of his head that she can't see. They look completely and totally wrapped up in each other, completely and totally _caught_.

_Shit_.

"Sir," Beckett starts, but meets only a raised hand, stalling her explanation.

"I am not interested in _why_ this happened, or is happening in my precinct, but I want to be very, very clear about something here detective, Mr. Castle."

Castle peeks out from behind her just far enough to make sheepish eye contact with their Captain, and suddenly Beckett feels like she's in the principal's office again.

"I don't care what the two of you do on your own time. I don't care about Page Six, or the two of you playing house, or playing footsie, or _whatever_ it is that you are doing, but I expect you to act professionally in my house, or we will have a problem here. Am I understood?"

"Yes Sir, Captain, absolutely, of course, there will be no more footsie or _anything_ going on in your house, cross my heart and hope to – " Castle blurts out and then trails off, catching Beckett's _stop_ glare.

"Of course, Sir. It won't happen again," Beckett finishes for him, cool and professional as always. She turns on her heel to walk out the door, realizes that she's still holding the image of the two of them in the stairwell. Hesitating, she turns a little bit, holding up the picture, but Gates is shooing her out.

"Keep it," she says quickly, looking vaguely nauseated.

Beckett hugs it to her chest, image _down_ as she and Castle make their way back to her desk where she can shove it into a drawer. She sucks down a huge gulp of her coffee, feeling the coolness and caffeine sooth her pounding heart a little bit, settling her. That could have gone much, much worse.

Castle's staring longingly at the drawer she just deposited their uh, _sizzling_ picture into, idly sipping at his coffee until he realizes she's looking at him.

"Hm?" he asks noncommittally. "Did you say something?"

She rolls her eyes at him, pulling herself up to her keyboard.

"I'm wearing a turtleneck tomorrow."


End file.
